PW_LOCK(3) NetBSD Library Functions Manual PW_LOCK(3)
NAMEpw_lock, pw_mkdb, pw_abort, pw_setprefix, pw_getprefix -- passwd file
update functions
LIBRARY
System Utilities Library (libutil, -lutil)
SYNOPSIS#include <util.h>intpw_lock(int retries);
intpw_mkdb(const char *username, int secureonly);
voidpw_abort(void);
intpw_setprefix(const char *new_prefix);
const char *pw_getprefix(void);
DESCRIPTION
The pw_lock(), pw_mkdb(), and pw_abort() functions allow a program to
update the system passwd database.
The pw_lock() function attempts to lock the passwd database by creating
the file /etc/ptmp, and returns the file descriptor of that file. If
retries is greater than zero, pw_lock() will try multiple times to open
/etc/ptmp, waiting one second between tries. In addition to being a lock
file, /etc/ptmp will also hold the contents of the new passwd file.
The pw_mkdb() function updates the passwd file from the contents of
/etc/ptmp. You should finish writing to and close the file descriptor
returned by pw_lock() before calling pw_mkdb(). If pw_mkdb() fails and
you do not wish to retry, you should make sure to call pw_abort() to
clean up the lock file. If the username argument is not NULL, only data-
base entries pertaining to the specified user will be modified. If the
secureonly argument is non-zero, only the secure database will be
updated.
The pw_abort() function aborts a passwd file update by deleting
/etc/ptmp. The passwd database remains unchanged.
The pw_setprefix() function defines the root directory used for passwd
file updates. If the prefix is set to /newrootpw_lock() will operate on
/newroot/etc/ptmp afterwards. The default prefix is an empty string.
The pw_getprefix() function returns the root directory which is currently
used for passwd file updates.
RETURN VALUES
The pw_lock() and pw_mkdb() functions return -1 if they are unable to
complete properly.
FILES
/etc/master.passwd
/etc/ptmp
SEE ALSOpw_init(3), pwd_mkdb(8)
NetBSD 6.0 February 17, 2007 NetBSD 6.0

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